Garment packing case



A Dec. 3, 17957 J. FIELD l-:TAL

GARNENT PACKING CASE:

United States Patent Office H asians Patented Dec. 3, 1957 GARMENT PACKING CASE Joe Field and Harry Field, Chicago, Ill. Application July 12, 1954, Serial No. 442,482

3 Claims. (Cl. 206-7) The present invention relates to packing cases which are adapted to contain quantities of garments during commercial shipment.

Reinforced cardboard boxes for containing and protecting quantities of garments during shipment have been utilized before, but because economy as well as security require that the garment loads packed into these containers be as full and compact as possible, accessibility to effect smooth, wrinkle-free placement has been dicult if not impossible to attain.

Many of the boxes heretofore utilized for this purpose, and particularly those which require to be loaded from a top and sole opening, resulted in the rumpling of outermost garments during operations of mass insertion, or in other cases of inner garments during successive insertions. Because of the friction between adjacent garments which were already suspended from a hanger beam, subsequently placed garments became dislodged or disarranged from their ideal or normal suspension on their hanger bracket. As a consequence of these disarrangements or rumpling, the garments required to be repressed upon arrival at their destination and therefore incurred added labor costs as well as delay and inconvenience reflected in merchandising overhead considerations.

In some packaging containers which aorded sidewise access for the loading of merchandise, the dimensions and total capacity were inherently limited. As a consequence, larger shipments of goods required to be contained in a greater number of total packages, and this too contributed significant cost factors to a singularly price conscious industry.

A principal object of the present invention, therefore, is that of providing a packing case or container capable of being constructed in large dimensions so as to have a capacity for receiving maximum shipment loads and one which will lend itself to facile sidewise access for the reception of garments suspended from shoulder hangers without rumpling or wrinkling the emplaced or adjacent garments previously installed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a packing case for containing large quantities of garments during shipment which is abundantly rugged so as to withstand the rigors of commercial freight handling While yet one which may be produced and assembled at relatively minimum cost considerations.

Yet another object of the present invention is to produce a garment package of the kind described which may be furnished in a knocked-down or at condition in large quantities, occupying relatively insignificant storage space while yet availing of large capacity enclosure when erected and assembled with but conventional packing room facilities.

The foregoing and other objects and purposes of the present invention will now be more specically illustrated and described during the course of the following detailed specification having reference to the accompanying drawings, in both of which like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a detailed perspective view of the cap component illustrated in its erected condition and having embodied therein certain features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view on a diminutive scale of the assembled packing case illustrated with its girth band or sealing tape partially applied;

Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective View of the remaining components of the packing case exclusive of that shown in Fig. l, with the front panel illustrated with its door-like sub-portion ajar; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detailed perspective View on an enlarged scale featuring the notched juncture construction between one of the side cleats and the garment supporting beam.

In the embodiment of this invention chosen for illustration in the accompanying drawings there is shown a garment packing case. The reference numeral 11, Figs. l and 2, illustrates an endwise applicable closure portion, also referred to as a cap which is the upper outer component of the case and includes a closed top and four vertical walls forming a rectangular chute closed at the top and open at the bottom. Complementary to and forming a lowermost supplement to the cap ll is a lower inner component 12 which includes a closed bottom encompassing heel generally similar to the cap but usually much shallower, so that in cooperation the two components are adapted to meet at a predetermined level designated in Fig, 2 at 13, whereat the upper edge 14 of the lower or heel part of the component 12 abuts the lower edge 15 of the cap component 11. The lower component 12, illustrated in Fig. 3, also includes, in addition to the heel, a liner component 21 which will be hereinafter described.

Consistent with customer accommodation these two components may be constructed of separate preformed and pre-incised foldable board sections, each preferably of double-faced cardboard and shipped as flats in standard unit quantities so that they may be stored before use Without occupying inordinate storage space. The end wing panels 16 and 17 are glued down over transversely extending side panels after the manner of conventional carton closure, whereupon the heel and cap components 12 and 11 are in readiness for nal assembly.

Under other conditions where it is economically more practical to do so, the heel and cap parts may be formed as a conventional carton, thereby lending itself to dual utility and being selectively severable on the parting line 13 by a peripheral or transverse cutting operation performed either in the flat condition or subsequently in the erected condition, as preferred.

When the heel component has been erected as already described, it is in readiness to receive the interior or liner component generally designated 21 in Fig. 3. This member may be constructed of a single sheet of double-faced cardboard prescored to form the corners as at .22, 23, 24 of four successively contiguous vertical wall panels designated 25, 26, 27, 28a and ZSb which, together, form a vertical rectangular chute. The walls 28a and 28h are, in effect, one wall having a transverse line of severance to permit hinging of the section 28a at the fold line 24, so that the section 28a constitutes an entrance door to the interior of the inner component 12. Of these the panels 25 and 27 will be referred to as side walls or panels, the one designated 26 as the back wall or panel and the one comprised of sections 28a and 2817 as the front wall or panel.

Erecting of the liner 21 may be preceded by the application to the side panels 25 and 27 of reenforcing means comprising cleats 31 and 32 which extend across the full widths of the side walls or panels 25-27 at the tops of those panels on the inner surfaces thereof. Alternatively, these cleats may be factory installed since their thickness constitutes but little addition of thickness to deter from compactness, the keynote in storage requirement. Each one of the cleats is applied to its related panel at the upper edge as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and is advantageously stapled as designated 33 in this position to lend added security to the installation for sturdiness. Each of the cleats is slashed to a partial depth near its center as indicated 34 in Fig. 4 for the purpose of receiving the end portion 35 of a transverse beam or rod 36 whose purpose is twofold.

Primarily the beam or rod 36 is provided to serve as a rod over which the hooks or Wire ends of clothes hangers are passed for suspending the garments from shoulder support, as is considered to be ideal for preserva ing the pressed condition. Secondarily the beam 36, by being formed with a characteristic tenon section 35 proportioned to t tightly into a corresponding dovetail 34, affords a means of cross bracing the liner assembly in order to give it added strength for withstanding inside stresses or internal load expanding strains.

The erected liner 21 is telescoped into the heel to constitute with it the lower inner component 12 whereupon a sub-assembly condition is achieved at which the instrument is in readiness for being loaded with garments. This is accomplished by opening the door panel 28a after the manner shown in Fig. 3, affording access sidewise to the hanger rod 36. It will be readily appreciated that the installation of garments on the rod 36 from sidewise access is an operation more easily accomplished and yet manifestly consistent with maintaining the proper drape and arrangement of the garments in respect to their hangers. When the liner is fully loaded the door panel 28a is closed by movement to the position in which it aligns with its companion sub-panel 2817. At the juncture of the door edge with panel 25 a length of sealing tape may be applied if desired, although this is not essential.

Finally, the cap or upper component 11 is slid into place meeting with its perimetric edge 15, the edge 14 of the component 11 making a sliding iit over the four vertical walls of the lower inner component 12. Thereafter a perimetric binding tape 38 is applied over the seam or bevel 13, durably integrating the package with a minimum of operational technique.

It is to be noted that the resulting package is throughout bounded by double thicknesses of double-faced cardboard, a feature which in itself reposes a material gain security-wise over other known practices of packaging. This enables the enclosed cargo to withstand against moderate or average collision, rough handling, and other factors, more so than with previously known packing cases.

While the present invention has been explained and described with reference to certain expressed and illustrated structural details, it will be understood nevertheless that these are by way of example and not limitation.

The invention claimed is:

1. A package case for a plurality of garments each on a shoulder hanger, said case comprising a lower inner component and an upper outer component, the inner component including a closed bottom heel portion and four vertical walls together forming a vertical rectangular chute closed at the bottom and open at the top, the four walls constituting one continuous sheet of paper board folded to form front, rear and side walls, at least two opposite vertical walls having reenforcement means extending across the full widths thereof at the tops thereof, a stationary garment support rod adapted to receive and hold a plurality of side by side garment sustaining hangers, said rod extending across the top of the inner component between said two opposite top reenforced vertical side Walls and supported entirely by said two opposite vertical paper board walls at said reenforcernents with all of the weight of the rod and the load thereon transmitted to the tops of said two opposite vertical paper walls, and the opposite ends of the rod being in engagement with the reenforced tops of the opposite side walls and holding the tops of said opposite side Walls a xed distance apart at said rod, one of the vertical walls that is between the said two opposite vertical walls that sustain said garment supporting rod having a line of severance therethrough to permit hinging of that one vertical wall at the line of fold that joins it to an adjacent one of the garment rod supporting vertical walls to form an entrance door portion to the interior of the inner component, said door portion extending vertically for a major portion of the height of the inner component, whereby the case may be packed with garments on hangers by placing the garments into the case through the open door and the packed case can be inspected through the open top thereof to determine proper positioning of the garments in the case, the outer component also constituting paper board cut and folded to form a closed top and four vertical walls forming a rectangular chute closed at the top and open at the bottom and making a sliding t over the four vertical walls of the inner component so that it may be telescoped downwardly over the open top of the inner component to close the open top thereof while the inner component loaded with garments suspended from said rod remains stationary and supports the rod, the outer component extending over the inner component up to and terminating at the top of the heel portion and covering the entire door portion of the inner component and constituting an endless band encircling the inner component for at least the entire height of the door and up to the top of the heel portion thus restraining the inner com ponent against outward bulging throughout the line of severance constituting the door. .V

2. A structure such as defined in claim 1 characterized in that the reenforcement means are on the inside of the inner component of the case. p

3. A structure such as defined in claim l characterized in that the reenforcing means constitutes cleats that are secured to the inner surfaces of those two opposite Walls that are reenforced thereby.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

